Rebian Nights
by Mynuet
Summary: Chapter 4 now up, in which Gourry and Lina appear, and our heroes go visit a certain part-time waitress.
1. Chapter 1

Rebian Nights  
  
by Sharlene  
  
  
Chapter One  
  
  
The garden was my refuge, both from the oppressive heat and the company of others. They were nice, my fellow shrine maidens. They had accepted me as one of their own and took the time to make me feel useful and welcome. I wore the shrine-issued robes and went to services, just like all the other girls. I took my turns for kitchen and cleaning duties, and tending to the sick and the dying. It wasn't their fault that they were too straitlaced to laugh when I joked about the high priestess's habit of wearing winter length robes all year to conceal her dumpy legs. They'd just never had friends like Miss Lina and Miss Amelia, girlfriends with vinegar in their personality along with the sugar. If sometimes I caught looks of pity directed at me, heard a whisper of "no magic"... Well, it was with the best intentions behind it. It was not their fault I felt out of place and lonely, and I had my garden.  
  
There was a superstition, a rumor among the shrine maidens, that this particular garden brought bad luck. The high priestess officially denied it, but she avoided going in there. No one objected when I volunteered to take care of it, and it was very rare for anyone to pass through the little gate leading into it. In the time I'd been at the temple I had repaired the wall around it and thoroughly cleaned the fountain so that it worked again. I had poured energy into planting herbs for medicinal and culinary purposes, but also into planting decorative flowers and shrubs. It was not vanity that made me think my garden was beautiful.   
  
It was when I was in the garden one day when I first met Dav. I had been feeling particularly miserable that morning and had fled to the only cool spot I knew of, right next to my fountain, under the shade of a willow. I wished, for what felt like the millionth time, that I could indulge in a good crying session. That form of cleansing was still denied me and thinking of it brought all of those horrible days back to my mind. Before I could sink too deeply into self loathing, I heard footsteps and turned to see who had braved the bad luck garden.  
  
I have to admit, I stared. Gaped might be a better word. I had never before thought the word "beautiful" applied to men, but that was the only word that came to mind. His hair was dark but slightly bleached from the sun and his teeth shone as he smiled. "Milady, it cannot be right to be so sad in the one cool spot to be found for miles." Even his voice was beautiful, with a slight accent that I didn't recognize.  
  
He bowed formally and I took in more details about his appearance. His clothes were like nothing I'd seen, baggy trousers tucked into high, gleaming boots, billowing shirt open at the collar and a sash for a belt of the brightest red I had ever seen. His eyes were a deep coal black and danced with humor. I suddenly felt very old and very tired. "Don't you know this garden is bad luck?"  
  
He smiled wider as he sat on the grass, leaning his back on the fountain. "Well, milady, I have been told you may be my luck. If you are here, then the garden is not unlucky." He ran his eyes over my legs, exposed by the short skirt of the summer robes. "And if you cannot help me, at least it is a pleasantly cool spot with a lovely view."  
  
I blushed and pulled the hem of my robe down as far as it would go. "What is it you hope I can do for you?"  
  
He snapped his eyes up to mine and gave a small, closed smile. "Now, that, milady, is-"  
  
"Say 'a secret' and I let you have it on principle."  
  
He lifted an eyebrow at me and I shrugged. He asked, "Do you often respond to secrecy with violence?"  
  
"Only when it's called for," I said dryly. He grinned again, a white slash against his dusky skin. I realized that his smile had been there the entire time, shifting to different forms but not disappearing.  
  
"I'll remember that, and I promise to keep only those secrets I must. And one I do not have to keep is that my name is Dav." He sat up slightly, inclining his upper body in an abbreviated bow before once again resting against the fountain. It was his slight wince that opened my eyes.  
  
"How long have you been sick?" I should have seen it before, and would have if I hadn't been blinded by his looks and infectious happiness. I'd been a healer too long not too take in that wince and then add to it the fine lines and his mouth and the evidence of lost weight.  
  
"Almost a year." He sounded dismissive and didn't bother opening his eyes.  
  
"Lind is the strongest in magical healing here. She's the pretty one with the long, light brown hair, and she's very nice so I know she'll help you." I smiled slightly. Lind was the best friend I had here, the closest to the true friendship I had shared with Lina and Amelia. She'd help this man and be happy to chat with him for a while.   
  
"Actually, it was Miss Lind who sent me to you. You see, if I have magic cast on me something worse than my death will happen. I cannot allow that." For a moment his smile was gone and he wore the grim expression of a warrior facing battle.  
  
Shaking himself as if awakening from a horrible dream, he laughed and stood, giving me another formal bow. "So you see why a healer skilled in non-magical methods seems the very best of luck, no matter what rumors surround this beautiful garden." He offered his hands and asked, "Will you help me, milady?"  
  
I looked at his hand, strong and callused and then placed mine in it, accepting his help and his request. "I will try."  
  
He kept hold of my hand, lifting it slightly as he bent to press a kiss on the back of it. "And for that, milady, you will have my eternal gratitude." I have to admit that I was struck dumb by the gesture and by the expression in his eyes. Even after he broke eye contact and tucked my arm around his, I merely walked next to him in silence.  
  
At the garden gate he stopped and I took my arm from his, walking slightly ahead to lead the way to my tiny workroom. Since the few patients I treated directly were generally ill past the capacity of magic to help and I would go to them, there were no provisions for patients in my work space. I waved him towards the couch I kept for when I had a lot of reading to do and sat down at my desk, pushing aside the notes I had been making on the properties of willow bark in favor of fresh paper and a pen. "So how did you first realize you were ill?"  
  
"I thought at first that I had the flu or had eaten something spoiled. It settled into a stomachache that wouldn't go away with bouts of nausea and an almost constant bad taste in my mouth." He stood up and started pacing as I made notes. "Eventually my mother had her private healer see me and he told me magic could not cure me. He made up some pills for me to take to ease the pain, but that was all he could do."  
  
"Did you try seeing someone else, someone who could work magic?" I spoke quietly, since his tension level was obviously high.  
  
"Of course I did." He stopped pacing and picked up a beaker from my laboratory table. "What's this stuff?"  
  
"Acid. Please be careful not to spill any, as it can eat through organic matter." I tried to smother my laugh at the exaggerated caution he used in setting it down. "What did the magical healer say?"  
  
"He couldn't find anything wrong." He wandered over to my bookshelves and pulled out a book. "Do you ever read for enjoyment? All I see are textbooks and medical journals."  
  
"What tests did he run? Did you also consult a priestess? How thorough was his check? Did he monitor your organ functions over several days?" I paused for breath.  
  
"You sure are full of questions." He grinned and tossed himself on the couch, still holding the book he had picked off the shelf. "Hm, "All About Marigolds". Fascinating stuff, I'm sure."  
  
I calmly put my pen back in its proper place, stood and walked over. He barely got his fingers out of the way as I snapped the book out of his hands. "You're wasting my time. Goodbye, Mister Dav." He made no move as I replaced the book on the shelf and then returned to my desk, ostentatiously throwing my notes on him in the trash and pulling out my treatise on willow bark.   
  
It was a full ten minutes before he said anything. To be honest, I'd gotten wrapped up in the work and jumped in surprise when he did speak. "He ran test after test over the course of four days. He died suddenly on the fifth. His assistant gave me his notes but all they said was that everything he checked was fine. He couldn't detect anything wrong with me."  
  
He took a deep breath and continued. "There are no priestesses or female magicians in the kingdom I was in. And then, well, I couldn't consult them even if I could have found them."  
  
I frowned, trying to sort out what he'd said. Even with a second rate physician, four days of consultation should have turned up some cause for his symptoms. "You mentioned earlier that magic would be worse than death for you. Why is that?"  
  
He sighed and sat up. "If I can beg your indulgence, milady, I'd like to tell you a story first." At my nod, he started... 


	2. Chapter 2

"Once upon a time in a land far away from here, there were two lands torn by war. Both lands were fertile and prosperous in their own way, but years of warfare were wearing away at that prosperity and the population of both countries was dwindling. Still the kinds ordered armies formed and battles fought.  
  
"One day, both kings disappeared from their beds and found themselves in the lair of a powerful sorcerer. His voice thundered as he said, 'You, O foolish kings, disturb my peace. I have given you time to resolve the matter but I see that you are both petty, feeble minded curs. Before the reign of such buffoons as yourselves, there was peace. There will be again.'  
  
"Both kings moved to protest but they found themselves as soundless and motionless as marble statues. The sorcerer continued. 'My lands lie between yours and your quarrel now affects me, and thus will I solve it.'  
  
"He turned onto them a terrible countenance made bestial by a rictus of a smile. 'You, my fine Caliph, have a daughter. She is, and will remain, your only child. You will give her to this, your erstwhile rival. He will treat her as his own, for so she shall become.' And the Caliph trembled, for he loved his daughter and feared for her safety. 'And you, little Czar... Your fine, healthy son will remain so, in the care of the Caliph. Just as you will care for the Jewel of Rebia, so shall your counterpart care for the Pride of Rus.'  
  
"The frantic kings found they could once again move and began to plead for their children to stay with them. The sorcerer raised a hand and for the first time in their lives the kinds flinched in fear, for they were brave men but the magician was fearsome to behold. 'YOU ask ME for time? You who cost me precious hours now ask for time? You who send young men to kill and die on my southern border, in my front yard, DARE to ask for mercy? Where was your mercy for those women you left widowed and those children you left orphaned?'  
  
"The kings trembled and knew that they could not deny his truth. They feared anew when the sorcerer broke into a merry grin. 'Well. Let it not be said I don't give second chances.' He raised a hand and waved an enchanted jewel over the heads of state.   
  
'As the king and land are one, so shall king and country exist east of sun and west of moon. Only when the worlds are joined will the sands part and the desert bloom, and your kingdoms return to the world. A queen shall seek your doom and a queen shall save you and deliver you back into the world, in the time of the chosen king. Until then, begone from my land.'  
  
"And so the sorcerer waved his hand and what he had prophecied came to pass. The lands of Rebia and Rus disappeared from this earth." He dropped his hands which he had been gesturing with to add emphasis to parts of the story. The spell of the story dissipated and he spoke more normally. 


	3. Chapter 3

"At least that's the way it's been passed down in my families. After that, the citizens found when they explored their former borders that they were simply redirected to enter the kingdoms at another point. The children of the two kings exchanged households, visiting their homes only rarely and never for long, for fear of displeasing the sorcerer further. In the years since then, there have been some intermarriages but not many, since the truce between the kingdoms has always been forced and fragile, and never between the royal families. Until my parents."  
  
He grimaced. "You see, my grandfather on my mother's side got the idea that the bit about the land and king being one meant that there should only be one king. Rather than fight each other over who should be king of the combined lands, he proposed his daughter marry the Czar's son. The Czar agreed and they built a palace for the newlyweds on the borderline between their two kingdoms, on what would have been the southern border of the sorcerer's land."  
  
I kept quiet, waiting for him to finish. He sighed deeply before continuing. "They thought that joining the two kingdoms in love at the site of so many battles would appease the sorcerer's spirit. It might have worked if my parents didn't absolutely loathe each other. My father was a stupid, brutish man. He beat and raped my mother." He nodded as I gasped. "Fun, huh? That's how I was conceived."  
  
I nodded vaguely, trying to reconcile such a horrible past with the happy go lucky man I had met in the garden. "What happened?"  
  
"My grandparents, showing remarkable tact, offered each a chance to go home. As soon as I was born I stayed in the Middle Palace, as it came to be known. My parents visited when they thought about it, although never at the same time, of course."  
  
I couldn't imagine such a life of isolation. "How awful."  
  
He shrugged, his familiar grin reappearing, lighting the room and making the tension seem to disappear. "It wasn't that bad. I had nurses and tutors from both kingdoms, and I got to visit both of them a lot. I learned the ways of both kingdoms, good and bad, but the prejudices of either side didn't have time to sink in. I love both my countries equally, although in different ways."  
  
"So why are you here? And what makes magic worse than death to you?" I walked over to my lab table and started to reheat my tea, mulling over what he'd said.  
  
"Well, milady, I don't know why I am here, if you mean this world. I woke one morning and was here. As to here with you, well- STOP!"  
  
I looked up, startled. Stop what? He snatched my teacup from my hand and placed it carefully on the workbench. "You must not have been paying attention… You poured out some of that acid and almost drank it."  
  
I laughed, snatched up the cup and took a big drink. "Yes, well, tea with lots of lemon is certainly acidic."  
  
He looked startled, then gave a snorted laugh. "You told me it eats through organic matter."  
  
I shrugged delicately and took a dainty sip. "It does… Eventually. If you let it sit long enough."  
  
"Score one for your side, milady. May I?" He gestured to the teacups and poured himself some "acid" when I nodded. "Remember how I said I was the first royal with combined blood?" I nodded and he continued. "There is another who is almost as well mixed. He is my father's first cousin, son of my aunt and a Rebian noble. He tried to stake a claim to the throne when my mother and father first separated but his illegitimacy made both kings hesitate and then it turned out my mother was pregnant, so the point was moot."  
  
I began to see a pattern emerging as he continued. "After my mother's healer died, my mother came to my rooms at the Middle Palace and told me she had discovered that my father's cousin plotted against me. He had made her healer enchant me. Any magic cast to heal me would kill her. She begged me to give her a kiss goodbye before she made arrangements to heal me."  
  
He sipped his tea and then stared into the cup contemplatively. "I couldn't allow that sacrifice. My mother has suffered enough for one lifetime and deserves to live it out to the fullest. I refused and set out in search of a cure. One night I went to sleep there and woke up here."  
  
I thought about all he'd said for a moment. "Your illness… You said it started with flu like symptoms, but included a bad, metallic taste in your mouth?"" I felt like I had connected enough dots to see the picture.  
  
"Yes. Since the beginning, but growing stronger as time passes." He must have picked up on the thread of excitement in my voice because he looked up, hope shining in his eyes.  
  
"Do you still have the pills you were given?" I was definitely smelling a rat, now it just needed confirmation.  
  
"Yes. I take them almost every day now, since the pain has grown so much." He took out a large bottle, still half full. "The healer had said to take one a day and more as needed, but I've avoided taking them unless the pain makes it absolutely necessary. I don't like the way they dull all of my senses."  
  
I took the bottle from him and shook out a pill. He watched in silence as I crushed it and ran tests. I watched the sample change colors and exhaled. "Bingo."  
  
"You have an answer, milady?" His voice was a mixture of astonishment, hope and disbelief.   
  
I walked to the bookcase and, finding what I needed, flipped it open to the right page. "Read this."  
  
His eyes scanned the page. "Yes, this is it! There are my symptoms exactly! What is the cure?"  
  
I turned the book so he could see the title: A Study of Chronic Arsenic Poisoning. "Simple. Stop taking it." I took the bottle from him and dumped it in the garbage. "There are some treatments to remove the arsenic already in your system, and to help ease any withdrawal pains from the opium it was laced with, but you shouldn't need much since you don't show signs of severe impairment or addiction. Still, that was the most important step. Your reluctance to take the pills as you were told is what saved you. You never got a large enough dose consistently enough to finish you off."  
  
"You mean I'm not going to die?" The disbelief was fading and the light in his eyes was truly beautiful to behold. I smiled, then laughed, almost giddy with the joy of having lifted this burden from him.   
  
"All of us die, but you won't die from arsenic poisoning any time soon." He put his hands around my waist and spun me in a circle and then kissed me. Thoroughly.  
  
Eventually he disengaged and smiled at me, loosening but not ending his embrace. "Milady Sylphiel, I could easily love you," he breathed the words out softly, his black eyes burning mine with their passion.  
  
I broke away, fidgeting with the contents of my desk until I could get my thoughts together. "I'm sure you're very grateful, but there's no need to go that far. You don't even know me."  
  
He came close, gathering my hands into his and gently kissing each palm in turn. "There is no doubt that I will be grateful to you for all eternity. For saving my life, I am forever at your service." He bowed, touching my knuckles to his forehead in a subservient gesture.   
  
I would have pulled away but he held me fast, bringing my hands to his lips as he straightened to his full height. "But milady, I know the difference between gratitude and love. I know that you are a woman of courage and learning, a lover of beauty and possessed of a spirit of boundless compassion, willing to help any stranger, no matter how rude. I know you that your kindness even exceeds your overwhelming beauty. Do you think so little of yourself that you believe yourself only worthy of gratitude?"  
  
I swallowed hard and backed away. I saw sincerity in his eyes, and something else I refused to acknowledge. "It's too soon. You don't know everything about me. You don't know the real me."  
  
He looked into me eyes for a long moment and then nodded. "Very well. If it is your wish, I will get to know all of you, everything about you. In return I will tell you all about me and perhaps you might grow to love such a flawed person as myself." Before I could protest, he kissed me again. Breathless, I watched him leave in the direction of the guest quarters. My life looked a lot more interesting all of a sudden. 


	4. Chapter 4

It took all of a month for me to tell Dav I loved him. We shared life stories, and I told him about when I had tried to kill Lina. I felt like he really, truly loved me, all of me, and I returned his love wholeheartedly. On the day I confessed my love, Dav made arrangements to marry the next day. Lind was my maid of honor, and the other shrine maidens covered the temple with flowers for the celebration. My happiness and the strength of Dav's love even gave me the courage to reach out and ask for forgiveness for the terrible things I did when the madness overtook me. I sent messages to Miss Amelia and Miss Lina and dared to hope that it might be possible to rebuild the friendships I had shattered.  
  
Dav and I had discussed the wedding customs of our cultures and so I wasn't surprised when, on our wedding night, he brought to our room a bowl of black ink and what looked like porcupine quills. "It is an ancient Rebian custom for the bride and groom to tattoo each other with a symbol of the bride's choosing as a permanent bond and mark of ownership. I do not demand that we mark you this way, but I would ask you, milady, to put your mark on me."  
  
I felt my heart swell with love. Those were not the traditional words he had described to me. He had changed the ancient ceremony to allow me to refuse. "It would please me, husband, if we shared this custom, for I am yours as you are mine. We will share the mark of the Holy Tree, Flagoon." I showed him the sketch I had made and he nodded.  
  
There was a certain eroticism to the ceremony. I found I was pleased to see this mark on him that said he was mine, and even pleased to be marked by him in return. It hurt, but not for very long, since I had stylized the design to a bare minimum of lines. After we were done, I bandaged his chest and cast a healing spell on my own.   
  
"Now," he said, eyes gleaming in a predatory way. "We are truly married." He pulled me towards him and-  
  
On second thought, that's too personal to share. Suffice it to say I had a very happy wedding night.  
  
Morning came and went. I woke up to the early afternoon sun slanting through the windows. I reached out but the bed was empty. I looked around and felt slightly alarmed that Dav wasn't anywhere to be seen. Before I could fully explore the concept, however, there was a pounding on the door. "Sylphiel! Sylphiel, wake up! Come ON, Sylphiel!" I pulled a sheet around me and ran to the door. Lind was not someone who panicked easily and I feared the temple was in flames.  
  
It was worse. "Sylphiel! A strange woman came and demanded to see Dav." She panted, trying to breathe and sobbing instead. "Sylphy, she put something on his face and he fell down! Before I could get past the garden gate they both vanished into thin air!" I had started to run towards my garden when Lind pushed me back into the room. "I left people searching every inch of the garden but you need to put some clothes on before you go down there. Man present, you know."  
  
I dressed quickly while Lind politely turned her back. In less than a minute we were running towards the garden. Once there I saw the man wasn't one of the priests, as I had assumed, but none other than Gourry Gabriev. Which meant.. "Miss Lina!" I ran towards her, and thanked whatever gods had brought her to me at the exact time when I needed her most. "Have you found him?"  
  
Lind held my shoulders as Lina shook her head absently, a look of intense concentration on her face. Finally, she spoke. "I've never seen anything quite like this. It's almost like Jillas's bombs, but not quite. All I can tell is that it's some sort of chemical causing a magic reaction." She slumped and Gourry caught her before she could fall. "I'm sorry, Sylphiel."  
  
I fell to the ground, sobbing as I felt my heart break. I felt Lind put her hands on my shoulders in an attempt to console and comfort. "Please... Please, I need to be alone for a few minutes." They all nodded sadly and trooped out respectfully. Lina hung back for a moment, whispering and making a gesture. As she turned to leave she said, "Your powers are back, Sylphiel. We'll find the woman who took him and kick her ass."  
  
Once I was alone, I cried. It started as grief, but with the grief came anger, a raw fury that someone dared to take what was mine. I felt power running through my body, my hair crackling with it as it filled me and began to ooze from my pores. I stood, clenching my hands into fists and then opening them, watching absently as purple rays shot from my fingertips.  
  
"Give it back." Xellos was suddenly there, gasping for breath and clutching his staff for support. "You're draining my power. A human body can't contain it for long, Sylphiel. Give it back."  
  
I realized I was drawing in energy in a similar way as to when I cast the Dragon Slave. I stopped but did not release any of the energy that filled me. "Start explaining, Xellos."  
  
He gave what sounded like a laugh. "It's a long story."  
  
"I don't care." I gritted my teeth and pointed a finger at his feet. Another ray, golden this time, flared out and made him jump backwards. His eyes opened wide, purple irises almost entirely covered by his dilated pupils, and he breathed "The Lord of Nightmares! But why..."  
  
He sat down heavily on the lip of the fountain and leaned forward, propping himself up with his staff. He explained that he had been a human sorcerer and had become a mazoku, but that part of his human soul had been reincarnated, eventually, into me. Since we essentially shared a soul, my negative emotions drained him, and something was not allowing him to take his power back from me. He finished with, "So you see, since your body can't contain all of the power of a mazoku, you have to let me take your soul. The part that's you will return to L-sama and I will be complete and won't have to worry about being drained. It's the best way, really."  
  
I zapped at his feet again, sending him backwards into the water. I laughed and felt my anger drain away, along with some of the power. "No chance, Xellos. You return to L-sama, I've got a husband to rescue."  
  
I paused at the garden gate, and looked back at where he was wringing out his cape and cursing. "Have you ever heard of Rebia or Rus?"  
  
He looked up, pushing sodden hair out of his eyes. "Yes, actually. During my human life, as a matter of fact. It was the one time I dabbled at being a prophet. Why do you ask?"  
  
I held up a glowing hand, amazed at how easily his power came to me. "Where is it? How do I get there?" I could hardly breathe for waiting for the answer.  
  
"How should I know? It was Ceipheed's prophecy, I just delivered it." He shook his head in disbelief. "The things I did to impress that girl.... Anyway, ask his Knight, she would know." He stood and held a hand out for his staff to fly into and then blinked away, leaving me with a lot to think about.  
  
----------  
  
"CEIPHEED'S KNIGHT?!?!?" Lina's eyes rolled back in her head and she slid to the floor, moaning. I had joined my friends in the dining hall, where Lina and Gourry had indulged in a light snack. Lind was still recovering from the sight.  
  
"Hey, she's getting better! She didn't go hide this time!" Lind and I exchanged confused looks at Gourry's sunny comments. Gourry lifted the sorceress and propped her up in her chair. "Good job, sweetheart!"  
  
Lina groaned. "I was going to go see her sooner or later. I guess it'll be sooner."  
  
"Miss Lina?" I was still completely confused. Who could possibly elicit THIS reaction?  
  
"It just happens that I can make the first part of your quest real easy." She took a gulp of ale, grimaced and continued. "Ceipheed's Knight is none other than Luna Inverse, part time waitress and older sister of the lovely and talented Lina Inverse."  
  
"She scares the pants off Lina," was Gourry's contribution.  
  
"Let's go, then!" I slammed my fist on the table for emphasis.  
  
"Not so fast." Lina's expression kept me from protesting. "We need to gather a couple of samples from the garden to test and figure out what that woman used. At this point it's our only clue."  
  
I nodded, acknowledging the wisdom of her words. "You're right, Miss Lina. The only other thing I know is the story he told me about his kingdoms, and I don't know if that will help. How do we find Rebia or Rus when the only direction we know is 'east of sun and west of moon'?"  
  
Lind jumped up, startling us. "DON'T leave before I see you again, okay?" With that she ran out of the room at top speed.  
  
Lina stared after her for a second. "Weird girl." I frowned and said, as Gourry nodded, "Miss Lina, she's my friend."  
  
Lina shrugged. "Anyway, you and Gourry can go gather the samples. You can work on one today and we'll take the other one to my sister tomorrow."  
  
"Will you help me with the tests, Miss Lina?" I wasn't sure how much I'd be able to get done. My hands were shaking uncontrollably as the reality crept in.  
  
"Maybe later. Right now I need to go tell the kitchens that we're going to stay here for dinner. I seriously want some fried chicken. Oh, and coconut cream pie. And pate! Lots and lots of goose liver pate." She seemed momentarily hypnotized at the though of food but snapped out of it with a grin and a wink. "Besides, all I ever managed with a chemistry set was some truly impressive explosions. The Dragon Slave is puny compared to the time I tried to make face cream."  
  
----------------  
  
We left before dawn the next morning. I felt oddly constricted by my old traveling clothes, and I was sad at leaving without saying goodbye to Lind. I had looked for her this morning, but no one had seen her since she ran from the table the afternoon before. Lina, Gourry and I were almost half a mile away from the temple when we heard a desperate wail from behind us, "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIT!"  
  
Lind came barreling down the road, hair flying behind her as she ran. She skidded to a halt in front of Gourry and out a hand on his chest for balance as she bent over and wheezed for breath. I noticed she was still in the clothes she'd worn the day before but they were now liberally spattered with ink. She noticed Lina glaring at the hand still on Gourry's chest and moved it away as fast as if she's touched an open flame. She stuttered, still struggling for breath. Finally she recovered enough to talk. "I have something for you."  
  
She held up a cloth bag and took out two books. "This is a copy and a translated copy of a book that's been in my family for a long, long time." She handed them to me and I read the title out loud, "Rebian Nights?". Lind continued, "I was working on copies for the family since the old copies are getting tattered. I finished the second one last night so you could take it with you." She blushed and dug her toe in the dirt. "It's fairy tale type stories but since several mention that east of sun thing, I thought it might help."  
  
I reached out and hugged her tightly, my eyes filling with tears. "You are a true and wonderful friend. Thank you."  
  
She blushed brighter. "I just wanted to help. One of the books is in the original language. I didn't know if it would be useful, but I brought it." She stood straight and took a deep breath. "Anyway, I don't want to hold you up. Good luck finding your Dav, Sylphiel. It was an honor to meet you Miss Inverse, Mister Gabriev." She bowed deeply and started walking back towards the temple.   
  
I shouted after her, "Goodbye, Lind, and thank you!" She paused and waved, giving the victory sign before she went out of sight.  
  
Lina stared after her for a moment. "Okay, so she's not weird. Just really nice."  
  
I nodded and we all started walking again. Lina and I each tucked a book into our cloaks as we trudged. Lina's stomach grumbled and we walked faster. Lina and Gourry started discussing food and I tuned out in self defense when liver and onions, mince pie, chocolate mousse and codcakes were all mentioned in the same sentence.  
  
------------  
  
Lina had grown quieter and quieter as we neared our destination. She finally knocked timidly on the door of a small, unprepossessing house. The door was opened and someone I took to be Luna Inverse said, "Come in."  
  
I looked at her as she led us in and gestured to seats. You had to look hard for a resemblance between the sisters. Where Lina was short with red hair and a small frame, Luna was tall, with purple hair and shoulders almost as broad as Gourry's. Her bust explained a lot about Lina's insecurities.  
  
Once we were all seated and she had placed tea before us, she turned to Lina. "So, while you're here you ARE getting married, right?" As we all stared, jaws hanging open, she arched an eyebrow at Gourry. "Whether it's to the father or not doesn't matter to me, really, but the baby will need a name."  
  
Gourry and I stared at Lina, unsure what to expect. Her mouth was moving and she seemed to be counting. After a minute her face lit and she said triumphantly, "I can't be pregnant, I can still cast magic! I'll show you... Darkness beyond twilight, crimson-"  
  
Luna held up a hand and Lina sat down quickly, her mouth closed and her feet demurely crossed at the ankles and tucked under her. "Don't be an idiot, Lina. You lose your powers when your body is NOT fertile, not when it is. Although that goes away after your first child, anyway."   
  
Lina seemed to be struggling for something to say. After a few minutes Gourry said, "Excuse us," and led her to another room, leaving me alone with the intimidating Knight of Ceipheed.  
  
Luna calmly sipped tea as crashes and bangs could be heard from the other room. I worked up my nerve to ask, but as I opened my mouth, she spoke. "I can't tell for everyone, and not right away. I can tell for Lina because she's my sister and she's already several months along."  
  
Gourry's exasperated voice floated in from the other room. "How do you THINK this happened? Even I'm not THAT dumb."  
  
I winced as we heard Lina suck her breath in sharply. I thought we were all in for a dragon slave, at least, but Luna trilled out, "Don't forget what happens if you break anything in my house, Lina." All noise from the other room stopped.  
  
Seconds later, an irate Gourry Gabriev emerged from the connecting door, Lina being dragged in his wake as she tugged on his belt, trying to drag him back into the other room. He stopped in front of where Luna sat, sipping her tea. "Look, lady, where do you get off? This house was left to both of you, so it's her house, too. I've seen the money she sends back to pay her share of the expenses. She's an adult now, and a fairly responsible one, so stop bossing her around."  
  
Lina had slumped to the floor when he started talking, moaning and holding her face in her hands. As he continued to rant, she started to sit straighter and take her hands away from her eyes. Her jaw dropped and she looked at Gourry with stars in her eyes as he continued. "I've asked her to marry me before and I'll keep asking, but no pregnancy and no sister will force her into marriage. She'll marry who she wants to, when she wants to. If you don't like it, too bad." Gourry crossed his arms over his chest and glared.  
  
Luna stood up. She seemed to grow and loom over Gourry, an expression like thunder on her face. Then the clouds broke as she grinned and clapped Gourry on the back hard enough to knock him off balance. "Well said! I'm proud to have you father my first niece!"  
  
"I'm going to have a daughter?" Gourry's grin spread across his face like sunshine as his eyes rolled backwards in their sockets and he fainted.  
  
Lina leapt over, straddling his chest as she shook him back and forth with his shirt in her fists. "This is no time to sleep, Gourry! Wake up so you can propose, you jerk! We've got to get everything ready!"  
  
Luna pulled her little sister up by the nape of the neck. "Why don't we go get your dress straightened out and take care of the church and invitations. Sylphiel will take Gourry to the tailor and then we'll all meet back here to discuss what emergency brought you here."  
  
------  
  
Things went as Luna had said, and I had the feeling that was often the case. After getting Gourry fitted for a tuxedo (blue, of course), we returned to the Inverse house. Gourry said he felt tired so he went to take a nap. Finding myself alone, I took out Lind's book and began to read.   
  
After what must have been a long time, judging by the way the sun had dropped, I looked up from the book. The Inverse sisters were approaching their home. Loudly.  
  
"Lay off, you know I've always been irregular." Lina's voice dropped so that the last word was almost a whisper.  
  
"Even if you ignored not getting your PERIOD for three months in a row, how could you miss that big ol' bulge?" Luna had thrown open the door and then turned around to poke at Lina's stomach. I had seen it, but until Luna's revelation, I had thought it was attributable to her eating habits catching up with her. Before Lina could do more than blush, however, a loud bang came from upstairs. It was followed by the sound of painful, extended retching. I could feel a sweatdrop form on the back of my head as the three of us tried to avoid making eye contact.  
  
"Maybe you should go see if he needs healing, Sylphiel." Lina gave me a little push towards the stairs as the sounds of misery continued.  
  
Luna pulled me away by the arm, causing Lina to overbalance and lunge towards the steps. "He's YOUR fiancee, sister dear. Shouldn't you go hold his hair or smooth his brow or something?"  
  
Lina smirked. "Come t think of it, you're the strongest in white magic, O Revered Knight. Isn't it your duty to help the sick and suffering?"  
  
Before the argument could continue, Gourry appeared on the top step. His eyes were puffy and bloodshot, his skin was so pale it seemed translucent, and his mouth was quirked in the strange grimace of the permanently queasy. To put it bluntly, he looked like hell. He started to descend the stairs slowly and carefully, gripping the banister tightly to keep his balance. Lina apparently thought to cheer him up and held up a large bag. "Hey, Gourry, I brought us dinner! Admiral Ost's chicken and sweet potato pie! And I picked up some pork rinds for a snack later!"  
  
Seconds later, the stairs were clear and the sounds of Gourry's digestive system attempting to leave his body resumed from upstairs. Lina looked confused. "Was it something I said?" 


End file.
